Bottle cap



Aug. 10 1926.

W. L. WRIGHT BOTTLE CAP Filed Oct. 30,

jwuentoz Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'WILBUR L. WRIGHT, OF FULTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO OSWEGO FALLS COR- PORATION, OF FULTON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BOTTLE CAP.

Application filed October 30, 1924. Serial No. 746,782.

This invention relates to certain improvements in closure disks or so-called bottle caps equipped with top pull tabs normally depressed in the cap flush and parallel with the top surface thereof; and the objects and nature of the invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art in the light of the following explanations. of the accompanying drawings that illustrate what I now believe to be the referred mechanical expressions or embodiments of my invention from among other forms within the spirit and scope thereof.

A bottle cap now on the market is,

equipped with a pull handle formed by a separate strip of tough paper secured on the top surface of the cap by a staple driven through the strip and cap and clinched at the bottom side of the cap. This attached handle cap is expensive because of the added cost of the attached paper stri and furthermore the attached paper strip forms an upward projection from the top .face of the cap rendering it diflicult to properly stack such caps in tubes and preventing the use of such caps in bottle capping machinery. It has been proposed to seat the attached handle of such cap in a previously formed depression in the cap, in an effort to overcome the before mentioned dilficulties by depressing the handle. According to one depressed-handle plan, the cap making machinery grinds or cuts out and removes the material of the cap-for about one half the thickness of the cap to form a radial seat or depression in the cap top extending through the peripheral edge of the cap. The machinery then feeds the handle-forming strip of, paper across the cap and into the depression thus formed "and staples the 'strip to the cap by a staple passing through the stri cap that forms the floor of the depression, and then cuts OK the paper strip at the outer end of the depression flush with the peripheral edge of the cap. According to another depressed-handle plan, it is proosed to form the attached handle receiving epression, by compressing the paper at that point to say about one half its original thickness. These two depressed handle plans present the original difficulty of the added cost of the separate handle forming aperstrip. ;The first mentioned depressed andle plan also, presents the difiiculty of and the weakened thin portion of the.

anchoring the added handle strip to the thin weakene portion of the cap at the floor of the depression, with resulting liability of the staple tearing through the thin floor under extracting pull; also this first plan does not fully remove upward projections from the cap top as the securing staple causes trouble in capping machinery. The second mentioned depressed handle plan proposes to form the depression by compressing the paper material of the cap but as those skilled in paper material and the peculiarities thereof, well know that a depression so formed is not permanent but is fugitive and but temporary, as the compressed paper tends to swell to its original condition particularly when subjected to moisture. This last mentioned plan does not solve the problem as the natural swelling of the compressed paper elevates the attached handle strip to a plane above the level of the top surface of the cap and tends to strip the staple from the cap.

Another type of paper bottlecap in use, overcomes the added expense of the separate stapled paper strip and certain other disadvantages of the hereinbefore described handled caps, but presents certain disadvantages peculiar to itself. This last mentioned type provides a depressed pull tab formed by a thin portion of the cap outlined by a faint shallow U-shaped slit, and then by a blade split horizontally entirely free of the cap except at the base of the tab and up "to a transverse staple driven through the cap.

One of the objections to these bottle caps average individual in reaching or getting at the free end of this faintly outlined tab to initiate the elevating swing or movement of the tab from the recess in the cap in which the tab is normally snugly fitted with its edge covered and concealed, and anotherv objection is due to the fact that many individuals are not familiar with the construction of such caps and do not observe them, when in the bottle mouth, with sufficient understanding or intelligence to even ap- Ereciate the presence of the depressed tab 'ghtly outlined by a barely visible slit or cut, or if the outline is observed to understand that the free end of the tab outlined the caps, is the difficulty experienced by thethereby is to be reached andpicked at with the finger nail until the go thereof is initially elevated to the extent necessary to be grasped between the fingers for the purpose of swinging the tab up and exerting ull thereon to extract the cap from the ottle mouth.

To remedy both of these ob ect1ons, 1t has been proposed to depress or compress the pulp board or paper material of the cap in an effort to form a substantial permanent top de ression or recess at the free end of th tab outlined by the slit in the top surface of the cap or to define the depressed tab by a depressed groove, but because of manufacturing difiiculties and certain characteristics of the paper material of the cap, such compressions have not attained the results sought and have not been a success commerciall and in actual practice. As a matter 0 fact, the capis not compressible to the degree required and if cap making machinery did produce a recess or 'de ression by compression of the require depth and area, such depression is but temporary and fugitive owing to the tendency of the ca material to return to normal position an condition particularly in the presence of the dampness and moisture to which the caps are subjected. In other words, the paper material thus depressed swells and returns to its"original condition, and tab edg exposing recesses or depressions disappear, and such depressions are useless and of no utility and fail to. afford access to the edge of the depressed tab and also fail to serve as means for in.- dicating or calling attention to the presence and purpose of the depressed tab.

To the uninformed and the uninitiated, the faint barely visible slit in the cap top defining the area of the top of the cap forming the depressed tab, does not suggest the presence of means for extracting the cap and does not explain'the operation necessary to elevate such tab to position for grasping by the fingers, and furthermore, even those informed as to the existence and purpos of depressed tabs in these caps, find it exceedingly difficult to gain access to and pick up the free edge of said tab portion even when multilating and splitting the same.

I have devised a remedy for these difiiculties, a solution of the problem, under which the resultin product, the finished cap or closure dis presents a depressed tab formed to be split by the user from the body of the cap or disk and seated in the recess thus formed flush with the cap top surface, with the free end tip of the tab cut off and removed, forming the tab with a usually straight edge exposed and freely accessible in a substantial clearly visible recess originally occupied by the ticularly set forth and specified hereinw after.

Referring to the accompanying drawin?, forming part hereof igs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, show in top plan, one piece bottle caps or closure disks embog ying my invention in various forms.

ig. 6 is a section on an enlarged scale on the dotted line 6-6, Fig; 1, dotted lines showing the double pull tab after being split from the cap and bent up by the user.

Fig. 7 is a cross section on the lines Z--7, Fig. l.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8-8, Fig. 5, dotted lines indicating the position of the tab after being horizontally split from the caps: and bent up b the user.

ig. 9 is a top p an view of another form of my invention.

Each cap or closure disk 1, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, consists of a single-ply or one-piece sheet of paper material or board such, for instance, as is commonly employed for bottle ca s, possessing the peculiar characteristic oi splitting in a plane parallel with its top and bottom faces under certain conditions, while possessing the required tensile and other strength.

This capacity of the sheet forming the disk to split horizontally is utilized to provide a central portion of the disk top capable of bein split from the remainder of the disk and bent up to form a relativelythin pull tab, such as a, indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 6 and 8, and by central portion of the disk, I mean any top portion of the disk located within and not extending through the boundary of the disk defined by the peripheral edge of the disk.

This tab forming portion of the disk top is outlined by one or more very thin shallow incisions extending down through the disk top face and approximately half way through the thickness of the paper material sheet forming the disk. The cap is thus incised to provide a tab forming portion within the boundary of the disk having one or two ends that are adapted to be picked up by the fihger nail and then pulledup and back to strip or split a rela tively thin tab from the remainder of the disk back to the base of the tab or part thereof where the connection between the tab and remainder of the disk is maintained for the purpose of transmitting the extracting pullof the tab to the disk for removal of the disk from the bottle mouth.

The depth of the incision defines'the splits single end tab portion 8, that is adapted-to ting plane and consequently the thickness of the relatively-thin tab split from' the.

disk leaving a top depression in the disk with a preferably imperforate although relatively-thin floor.

The pull connection between the base of the tab and the remainder of the disk can be V maintained by any suitable coupling means, or by strengthening means limiting the splitting point, or in some instances, if the tab is of sufficient thickness and strength atnts junction with the body of the cap, as 1n F gs. 5 and 8, added coupling or strengthening means may not be necessary.

A staple 2, driven through the cap and clinched at the underside thereof, can' be employed to form tab coupling and strengthening means, and the top bar of this staple is operatively arranged in an suitable manner with respect to the pul tab forming anel outlined by the incision, to perform the esired functions of limiting the split or maintainin the pull' connection from the elevated tab to the'body of the disk.

Figs. 1, 3 and 9 show the top bar of the staple 2, traversing the base the tab or tabs and extending down through the disk beyond the side edges of the tab or the op posite sides of the split outlining the same, as in Patent No. 761,005, May 24, 1904, for instance. In Fig.2, I show the staple 2, traversing the tab port-ion with its ends driven down through the same, for mstance,

as the staple is driven through the attached flap in Patent No. 765,049, July 12, 1904.

In the form shown by Figs. 5 and 8, the thin approximate U-shaped incision 3, that outlines the pull tab portion 4, is so deep as to extend almost but not quite through the full thickness of the disk, and as the depthofthe incision determines the plane of the split (with respect to the top and bottom faces of the cap) and consequently-the thickness of the pull tab at, when stripped and split up from the remainder of the disk, such tab will under certain conditions be sufficiently thick and strong where its base merges into the body of the disk as to constitute a cap extracting coupling or connec tion without the presence of the coupling or strengthening staple or other added means. In the forms shown by Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, continuous or unbroken-loop-like shallow incisions 5 are shown that outline elongated double tab portions 6, that can be lifted and split from either or both ends toward the middle to form either a single tab or a dou ble tab, see a, Fig. 6. In these forms, an intermediate port-ion of the elongated panel 6, outlined by the continuous incision 5, is bridged by a staple 2, to form the pull coupling from tab to disk proper.

In the form shown by Fig. 9 an approximate U-shaped shallow incision 7',outlines a depth of the incision that defines the 'the cap top.

be picked up at one end to form a t in tab that will split or strip from the body of the 7.

disk up to the staple 2, that insures the pull connection from tab to disk proper during the extracting operation. I I

In the form shown by Fig. 4, I show two separate shallow U-sha ed incisions 9,," ar ranged in alinement wit 1 their open ends in opposition with an intervening sta IeiQ-to" cooperate with either or both pull ta panels 10 when either or both is or are picked up at their free ends and stripped or s lit toward the staple, in-maintaining pu l connection from tab to disk.

In each example described, the thickness of the split off lifted tab and the depth of the floor I) of the recess or depression formedby thus stripping the tab, is defined by the tab in In caps incised to define thin portions of the cap to be picked up and split from the body of the cap, it is exceedingly desirable to afford the finger nail free accessto-ithe pick up end of the tab to the full depth of the thickness of the tab, he to the floor of the depression in which" the tab is located. Otherwise, the finger nail is very liable to start the split in a plane above that in which the incision terminates with the result that the portion split does not produce a tab of the full thickness intended and desired. To produce the elevated pull tab of full thickness and the required tensile strength, the fin er nail should have free access to the pic up end of the non-split tab portion, to the full thickness of the end edge of said end so as to avoid initiating a horizontal split in said end and so as tostart the split along the horizontal plane in which the tab defining vertical slit terminates.

I accomplish. this result, in each bottle cap formation shown, by providing a permanent clearly-visible open-top recess 0, beyond the pick up end of each tab portion and in depth equal to the full depth of the depression in which such tabportion is located, and hence, in depth equal to the thickness of the tab portion. The floor 6, of this recess 0, is hence a longitudinal horizontal continuation of the floor ofsaid depression, and serves as a guide for the finger nail in reaching under the ,pick up end to initiate 120 the elevating and splitting action thereof without a tendency to start splitting the tab portion itself. The formation of this peculiar permanent recess a, in longitudinal continuation of the tab portion and of the depression left by splitting and elevating the tab, exposes the pick up end edge d, of the tab portion and renders the same freely accessible, as said edge d, forms one vertical wall of the recess or well 0.

y the tab and the two recesses 0, in such forms as shown by Figs. 1, .Zand

ends of the tabs I then free the extended and cut 0E such extended ends to produce tabs of thedesired length thereby leaving the permanent recesses and the exposed pickup edges of the tabs. I

r In the completed caps, the tab portions' are not split from the body of the caps except at their free end portions, say as far back as indicated by the full lines-b in Figs.

6 and 8, solely for the purpose of freeing the tab tips to (permit severing and removable thereof an to provide a free end portion at the tab edge d, under which the linger nail can catch when guided by the floor 6. The tab portions in the completed caps hence form unsplit connected parts of the bodies of the caps, except at the extreme 1 end or tip portions, and are designed to be split by the user when raisinthe same to perform pull tab functions, zilthough I do not wish to so limit all features of my invention. An advantage is thereby gained as the tab portions forming non separated parts of the caps do not tend to curl up or elevate and form upward projections-and do not become deformed, and do not interfere with free capping machine operations, In other words, the caps of my invention completed for the market, will have the tip or end portion of each tab freed or split, the major portion of each tab remaining unsplit and secured or included in its original condition in an unbroken art of the disk. For instance, referring to igs. l and 5', the tip of the tabs are freed or split back to the dotted lines 5*, 3, respectively. in Figs. 6 and 8, the tip tab is split or freed the distance of the full-line b, and in Fig. 6, the

dotted line S'indicates the plane in which the slit 5 terminates and consequently the plane in which the tab will split fromthe disk when elevated and stripped by the user and the same remarks apply to the dotted line 3, Fig. 8.

I do not wish to limit myself to any particular steps of the method of making the caps of my invention nor to any particular mechanisms employed in carrying out steps in the manufacture, or to the exact constructions illustrated.

What I claim is 1. A one-piece sheet of paper material constituting a bottle cap incised to outline a non-split pull tab horizontally splittable by the user to form a pull tab, the area within the incision being of greater length than the pull tab, the ti portion only of said tab being horizontafiy split from the body of the cap with the end thereof cut off and removed forming the tab tip with an accessible pick-u edge located down in the opentop1 recess formed by the removal of said en 2. A container cap consisting of a paper material disk capable of splitting in a plane between its top and bottom faces, said disk being incised through a portion of its thickness to outline a panel in the top face of the disk designed to provide a pull tab that can be elevated from one end" by splitting the disk, the area enclosed by the incision being of greater length than said pull tab, one end of said panel of a thickness equal to the thickness of said tab being cut and split from the disk to form an open-top flat-floor recess and the tab with a ick up edge exposed and accessible throng out its full thickness in said recess, whereby the floor of the recess serves to guide the finger nal in picking up the full thickness of the ta 7 ln testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Fulton, N. Y., this 22nd day of Uctober, 1924;.'

WILBUR L. wnien'r. 

